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[0:00] Well, we concluded in somewhat of an awkward place last week. We finished just at the end of verse 4. So today we're kind of parachuting in, as it were, to verse number 5, and we're going to finish all the way out to verse 13.

[0:13] Remember the way we've broken up this passage. In the first four verses, we considered what the disciples saw. As they're on the mountain, they see the transfiguration. They see Moses and Elijah, and they're in the midst of this great experience.

[0:27] And then in the remainder of the text, we will examine what they heard, and then also what they asked. So we've seen what they saw, what they heard, and what they asked.

[0:40] So let's jump into what they heard here with verses 5 through 8. Technically, the description of what they heard really begins where we left off in verse 4, and I won't rehash everything that we went through last week in regards to this, but let's just mention a couple of things.

[0:54] Look with me again at verse 4. There appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Now, remember, Luke tells us the nature of this conversation.

[1:06] You can find that in Luke chapter 9 if you want to just maybe make a note of that in your margin. Matthew 17 and Luke chapter 9 is where you will find the parallels to Mark's account. Luke wrote that they were talking about this exodus that Jesus would accomplish in Jerusalem.

[1:23] And remember, what was the exodus all about? In the Old Testament, the exodus was the deliverance of God's chosen people from bondage in Egypt. What was the new exodus about that Jesus would accomplish in Jerusalem?

[1:37] Well, it's the deliverance of God's chosen people from the bondage of sin and death. So the conversation that Peter and James and John hear on the top of the mountain has everything to do with Jesus' crucifixion, suffering, and subsequent resurrection.

[1:57] And the fact that it is Moses and Elijah that are discussing it with Jesus reminds us that the scriptures foretold a suffering Messiah.

[2:09] And this is important at this point in this passage because the messianic mission of Jesus is the part that the disciples misunderstood the most.

[2:20] And what plays out in the remainder of these verses, all the way down to verse 13, is the fruit of the disciples' misconceptions.

[2:31] And of course, they would later look back on this. We've seen that in Peter's epistle already. Also, in some of John's writing, they would look back on this moment and interpret it correctly and understand more fully what was happening.

[2:44] But in this moment, they just didn't get it. They weren't making all the connections that they needed to make. But the first thing that they hear is the confirmation from Moses and Elijah of what Jesus had already told them.

[2:55] That he's going to go to Jerusalem. He's going to be betrayed by the people that should have never betrayed him. He's going to be executed by the Romans. And then he would raise from the dead. Okay, that's where we find our place in verse 5.

[3:07] Let's look at it. And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

[3:20] For he did not know what to say. For they were terrified. I was talking with my brother earlier this week. And I was telling him where we were in our study right now in Mark.

[3:32] And he said, oh, I love preaching that passage. He said, it's so funny. He said, there's all this stuff going on. And what is it that Peter pipes up and says, Lord, it is good that we are here. Yeah, of course, Peter.

[3:44] It's good that we are here. We can sympathize with Peter in this moment, can't we? I know I can sympathize with Peter. When I was growing up, my mom used to always tell me that she would say, Jared, your mouth is in drive, but your brain is in neutral.

[3:58] That's what she would say. And she would give me a hard time. She would say, Jared, you're not a bad kid. You just don't know how to shut your mouth. And so in that sense, I can certainly sympathize with Peter.

[4:10] Because we get to this really fantastic moment. Mark says that Peter didn't really know what to say, but that didn't stop him from saying something anyways.

[4:22] You get to Luke's account in Luke chapter 9. Luke says that even after he said it, he didn't even know what he said. But that didn't stop him either. He just spoke. And it's a good lesson for us here.

[4:36] Because there are times when God wants us to look and listen. And there's nothing really for us to do. There's nothing really for us to say.

[4:48] But we often miss what he intends. Because we insist on interjecting with our own thoughts and opinions and conclusions anyway.

[4:59] Isn't that where Peter is here? What's Peter's job on the mountain? To look and to listen.

[5:11] And because he was so distracted by what was happening around him, because he was so distracted with his own thoughts, with his own conclusions, with the things that he wanted most, he completely missed what he was supposed to have heard.

[5:29] And that's a good principle for us to apply in a lot of different situations in life. But we need to certainly consider it in regards to our Christian growth. There are magnificent truths in the Bible that God wants you to see and to hear.

[5:47] But you will never grasp them if you continue to impose your own thoughts and opinions on the text instead. And I'm going to explain what Peter's getting at and why this applies.

[5:59] But before we even get there, we got to recognize all he needed to do was look and listen. Listen, the connections could have been made if he would have just stopped and looked and listened.

[6:12] But because he had in his mind what he wanted Christ to be and what he wanted this kingdom to be, and because he wanted it to be something different than what Christ was saying it was, he speaks up and really the suggestion that he gives is not very good.

[6:27] It reminded me this week of a song that Andrew Peterson wrote several years ago. A song is called Always Good, and it's an encouraging song. But there's a part in one of the verses where he says, I don't always know what you're doing.

[6:45] Why don't you make it all plain? But you said you'd come back on the third day, and Peter missed it again and again. And then he writes in this verse, so maybe the answer surrounds us, but we don't have eyes to see.

[7:00] Isn't that where these disciples are here? The answer's all around them. Jesus has plainly told them. But then we go back to chapter 8, and we see this illustration of the blind man and where are these men at right now in their Christian growth?

[7:18] They can see. They can see. But it's not clear. And because it's not clear, they're not grasping what they need to grasp in this moment. And what Peter suggested to the Lord was that he and the other disciples construct three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

[7:37] And this suggestion really is influenced by the disciples' misunderstanding of Jesus' purpose. So they wholly believed in who Jesus was.

[7:49] They were convinced of Jesus' identity, but what they could not come to terms with was the thought of a suffering Messiah. Their minds were fixated on what their hopes were for the coming kingdom.

[8:04] And here for just a moment, Peter gets a glimpse of that kingdom. That's what's happening on the mountain. The transfiguration, Moses and Elijah, there's this experience, and this is, he's thinking in that moment, okay, now we're talking Jesus.

[8:21] Let's forget about the stuff in Jerusalem. Now we're talking glowing garments, Moses and Elijah. And what is this suggestion really about?

[8:32] Peter saying, it's good that we're here, Jesus. Why don't we just stay here? Why don't we just stay here? We'll build you a tent, and we'll build Moses a tent, and Elijah a tent, and we'll just stay on the mountain.

[8:49] That's what he's suggesting. Why? Because he doesn't want to go to Jerusalem. He's not interested in a Messiah that would suffer. He's not interested in following someone, knowing that it means that he will, also suffer.

[9:05] But he failed to miss that in this coming, this time around, Jesus was not coming to sit on a throne, but to hang on a cross. He was not coming to establish a nation, but to save his people from their sins.

[9:23] That's what this coming was for, and Peter missed it, or at least he refused to accept it at this moment. And he's saying, now we're talking. Let's just stay here. Let's bring the kingdom now.

[9:35] Let's not worry about the suffering part. Let's just bring the kingdom now. And he says, we'll do this thing. And there's a couple of issues here. Why is that such a problem for Peter to have suggested that?

[9:46] Well, one is suggestion was in opposition to the will of God. Peter didn't realize that if he kept Jesus from going to the cross, he kept Jesus from paying for his sins.

[10:01] There's no redemption for Peter unless Jesus goes to Jerusalem. There's no redemption for any of us unless Jesus goes to Jerusalem.

[10:12] It was the will of God the Father from eternity past that the Son would save us from our sins, that he would provide this atonement. That's what Jesus is moving toward.

[10:23] That was the witness of the scriptures. That's the purpose of Moses and Elijah being there. But Peter wasn't interested in that. And his suggestion goes against the will of God, which reminds us of how Jesus confronted him earlier in chapter 8.

[10:36] Get behind me, Satan. Why? Because you are not setting your thoughts on the thing of God. You're setting your thoughts on the things of man. Peter, you just want what you want.

[10:48] You don't want what God wants. The second problem here is it seems that Peter is putting Jesus on an equal plane with Moses and Elijah.

[11:02] As if somehow those three are equal, but they are not equal. Jesus is their Lord. Jesus is their creator.

[11:15] It was Jesus in his divine identity as being a part of the Trinity that gave the law to Moses, that spoke through Elijah.

[11:28] He was not their equal. And that's what sets up what happens next. He was ignorant of the significant errors of his statement.

[11:39] I really think that's what Luke meant when Luke said that he didn't even know what he said. I think Peter caught up in this moment, doesn't even realize how bad the errors were in his suggestion.

[11:51] It's not clicking in his mind at this point. But it was because of those errors. It was because of his insistence on his own hope and opinion that those errors resulted.

[12:09] And that's a warning for us. When we impose our own thoughts and conclusions on the scripture, we're always going to end up in error. Instead, we need to let God's word shape us.

[12:23] Let it shape our minds. Let it shape our hearts. Not the other way around. Well, let's look at verse 7 as we're moving along. What happens next? And a cloud overshadowed them.

[12:36] A voice came out of the cloud. This is my beloved son. Listen to him. Suddenly looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

[12:48] Only. Now, I want to stop here for just a moment. And give us a second to try and contemplate the gravity of what is happening with Peter and James and John.

[13:07] The significance of this moment, verses 7 and 8, it's impossible to overstate it. Because it's not really possible for us to even fully comprehend it.

[13:19] Think about it. I want to read the verses again. Think about this. Think as if you were Peter on that mountain and you've just made this statement. And here's what happens all of a sudden.

[13:33] A cloud, a bright cloud enveloped them. And a voice came out of the cloud. There's no person attached to the voice.

[13:44] It's just a voice. And the voice says, this is my beloved son. Listen to him. And then they look around and suddenly it's all over.

[13:54] It's gone. There's only Jesus there. What's happening here? This cloud that enveloped the men, we refer to it as the Shekinah glory of God.

[14:09] The Shekinah is not a biblical word. It's an extra biblical word that the Jews used to describe the divine presence of God manifested and dwelling on earth.

[14:21] And there's only a couple of places in the Bible that we see this happening. These disciples were experiencing God in a way that very few ever had. Let me just mention a couple of these places and maybe you'd want to read them later.

[14:33] I'll give you the references. In Exodus 40, we see this at the Old Testament tabernacle. Technically, we could go back to creation as the Spirit of God overshadowed the earth as it moved across the waters.

[14:48] It's really the same word there. It's the presence of God on earth in creation. But then we see it in this unique way in Exodus 40, the Old Testament tabernacle. Moses has been instructed to lead the children of Israel to construct it.

[15:01] And here's what it says. Then the cloud covered, that's the same word, overshadowed the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

[15:12] And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. This cloud in Exodus 40 is the cloud in Mark 9.

[15:27] This is the manifested presence of God, the Shekinah glory of God that has enveloped these men. And then we see it again a little bit later in the Old Testament at the dedication of Solomon's temple.

[15:40] It's 1 Kings chapter 8. 1 Kings chapter 8. Here's what it says. When the priest came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord. Same word, overshadowed, enveloped.

[15:52] A cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord filled, overshadowed, enveloped the house of the Lord.

[16:08] We see it again in the New Testament. Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. An angel appears to the virgin Mary. And the angel says to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you.

[16:24] And the power of the Most High will overshadow you, envelop you, fill you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God.

[16:37] John writes it in John chapter 1 and verse 14. The Word became flesh and tabernacled, dwelt among us.

[16:48] Speaking of Jesus. What is this? This is the presence of God. The tabernacle, the temple, the conception of Jesus. Jesus taking on flesh.

[16:59] It's the same thing that's happening to these men here. And I want you to notice their reaction. Mark doesn't tell us what it is, but Matthew does.

[17:10] Here's what Matthew says. Chapter 17 and verse 6. They fell on their faces and were terrified. They fell on their faces and were terrified.

[17:23] Why? Because they are in the presence of God. There are some people that have such a low view of the glory of God that they would never expect, if confronted by Him in this way, to ever fall on their faces, to ever be scared for their life.

[17:51] And yet, every time we see someone in the Scriptures confronted by the presence of God in this way, that's their reaction. It's always to fall on their face.

[18:02] It's always to cry out for mercy. Why? Because of the holiness of God. Isaiah chapter 6. When Isaiah has this vision of God and God on His throne, what is it that Isaiah says?

[18:17] Woe is me. Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I am lost, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, was Isaiah's reaction.

[18:37] Woe. Woe. It's not mere amazement. It's fear. It's fear. And yes, I know that when we reference fear in the Bible, we're meaning reverence and respect, but it's not just reverence and respect.

[18:56] There is a legitimate dynamic of fear when a sinful man appears before the holy God. In Revelation chapter 1, John is confronted by Jesus, the glorified Jesus on the Isle of Patmos.

[19:13] And what does he say? Verse 17 of chapter 1, he says, When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Why?

[19:25] He's in the presence of God. Remember in Exodus, when Moses went up on the mountain, and all the people of Israel were to gather at the base of the mountain, and God was going to speak to them.

[19:38] And there's the cloud, and there's the thunderings on the mountain. And God speaks to the nation. Remember what the nation of Israel told Moses afterwards? They said, We don't want to deal with that again.

[19:51] We don't want to do that. Why don't you talk to God, and you just tell us what he says? Because they were scared out of their minds. Why? Because they were sinful people before the presence of the holy God.

[20:04] That's what the presence of God will do. Much of our problem today is that we don't really know and understand the holiness of God. And we see it in two ways in our lives.

[20:17] First, we see it in our sinful passions. Why was there fear before Isaiah? Because he recognized he was sinful. He was everything that God is not.

[20:28] And he may not, in his own estimation, been as sinful as other people that were around him in Israel, but he was sinful enough because when he stood before God, all he said was, Woe is me.

[20:39] Woe is me. Our sinful passions give an indication that we don't really understand God. We don't really understand his holiness. And then we see it in the complacency of our worship.

[20:55] We get this idea that the worship of God is just to be casual in some way. And we see this manifested in churches where what is said to be a gathering for worship is a political rally or it's a concert of some kind.

[21:17] It's meant to pump you up or it's meant to encourage you with those around you or to put a display of what you can do and whatever your gifts are in this moment. But if we really understood the holiness of God, if we really understood the majesty of God, if we were really confronted with the presence of God, we would probably play no music.

[21:39] We would probably do nothing but fall on our faces before God and cry for mercy. David Carr, the former NFL quarterback, interestingly enough, I know he's a great theologian that you would expect me to quote on a Sunday morning, but it was fantastic.

[22:03] He said, the sun can burn out your eyes from 93 million miles away and some of us think we can walk casually into the presence of its creator.

[22:17] R.C. Sproul, all those years of his ministry, his purpose was to try to help people see through the scriptures who God really is to see the holiness of God so that when we see the holiness of God, we will see how actually sinfully depraved we are and how much we need his mercy.

[22:41] Oh, that we would pray that God would give us a glimpse of his holiness to show us who he is and he has.

[22:52] It's in his word. We'll probably never experience something like Peter and James and John experience, but we don't have to. Why? We have a more sure word.

[23:03] That's what Peter said. He said, yes, I had this thing, but you have a more sure word of prophecy. Go to the Bible. Go to the scriptures and pray that God would open your hearts.

[23:16] Pray that God would open my heart to see his glory, to see his holiness, to see his majesty. We talk about this spiritual renewal weekend coming up here in a couple weeks. It will mean nothing if we leave these services night after night after night with no real vision of who God is.

[23:33] It will mean nothing. Pray that God would help us understand in whatever way we can and that that would be an impact on our lives.

[23:46] And we're told that this voice thunders from the cloud. It was the voice of God the Father. It was the same voice that thundered at Jesus' baptism and it said the same thing.

[23:59] This is my beloved son. Listen to him. Every time God is said to have spoken audibly in the New Testament, it was to acknowledge that Jesus is his son and to command that we are to listen to his son.

[24:21] All of the audible speech of God in the New Testament is that. And again, R.C. Sproul is helpful here. He said, if God were to speak aloud today from the heavens, you know what he would say?

[24:35] He'd say to us, listen to my son. my son in whom I am well pleased. After finishing speaking, Matthew says that Jesus walked over to the disciples who have fallen on their faces in fear.

[24:57] Matthew says, this is awesome. Matthew says, Jesus, the son, touches them. They're on their face. He touches them.

[25:10] And he says, get up. You don't have to be afraid. It's amazing. Is that not a picture of the gospel? We're confronted by the holiness of God and we see our sin.

[25:25] We see our wretchedness and what does that produce in us? It can only produce one thing, fear. That's the only reaction we could have when we truly see the holiness of God.

[25:35] And then what does the son do? He touches us and he says, get up. You don't have to be afraid. Look at me. Follow me.

[25:46] Believe me. That was the point. And Matthew says, the men at that moment, after Jesus touches them, they lift up their heads and they look around and Jesus' face isn't shining anymore.

[25:59] His clothes are like they always are. Moses and Elijah are gone. The cloud is gone. The voice is silent. What are they left to see?

[26:11] Jesus only. Jesus only. Now listen, that's the point of the transfiguration.

[26:23] That's the point. Moses and Elijah, the Old Testament scriptures, what's their purpose here? To get us to see Jesus.

[26:35] To get us to see Jesus. What's the purpose of the voice? The voice of God the Father? To get us to see Jesus.

[26:47] What then is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? The scriptures say, it is to get us to see Jesus. Notice, notice, God the Father doesn't thunder with a voice that says, this is my son, listen to me.

[27:02] He says, listen to him. He's not pulling the attention to God the Father. The Holy Spirit doesn't do that either. He doesn't testify of himself, he testifies of Christ. What do the scriptures do?

[27:13] What is the point of all of this? That these disciples might look up and see Jesus alone. What is the point of this passage for us? That we may look up and see Jesus, Jesus alone.

[27:28] And then that moves us on to this really kind of enigmatic part of this passage in verses 9 through 13, which is under the heading in my notes is what they asked.

[27:39] So we have what they saw, what they heard, and now we see what they asked in verses 9 through 13. Now I just said it's a bit enigmatic here.

[27:51] That's not to say that we cannot understand the verses. It would just take a little bit of work for us to connect the dots here of what's happening. And I can't delve into all the complexities here, but I think that if you'll just hang with me for a couple more moments, I think we can get it, okay?

[28:08] Look at verse 9. As they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

[28:21] So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. Now I love that Mark gives us a glimpse into this conversation because we're not often told in the Gospels of how the disciples were processing the things that they saw, how they were processing the things that they heard.

[28:43] We see it from time to time, but not very often. The Gospels move very quickly, don't they? We get here and Matthew and Mark both kind of give us a glimpse as to how the disciples responded to this event.

[28:59] And so it says that as they were hiking down the mountain, they began to ask Jesus some questions. And it just makes me wonder, how long did it take? It's a pretty magnificent event.

[29:10] I would imagine there's some silence for a little while. Peter's just been rebuked again. I would imagine from him especially there's probably a little bit of silence. But eventually the silence is broken.

[29:22] And they begin to discuss what has transpired, which leads to Jesus quickly commanding them not to tell anyone. Now that's a tough order, isn't it?

[29:35] And we see it all the time with Jesus, right? And we've talked about all the reasons why Jesus often instructed people not to say anything about the things that he had done. We understand all of those things. There's no reason to go through them again.

[29:46] But it's a tough order. Here's these three disciples. They've had the most magnificent experience of their life. And now they can't even tell their buddies. At least not yet. And of course, they obeyed that.

[29:57] They obeyed the command. Jesus said not to say anything until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. And so, they still didn't understand the purpose of the cross.

[30:08] Jesus knew that their spiritual sight would remain unclear until after the resurrection. And so, to share the news of the transfiguration would only add to the misconceptions of the people.

[30:22] It's only going to potentially add obstacles on Jesus' path to the cross. It was just necessary that they not say anything yet. But they would. Just not yet. Well, that led to a question and a discussion amongst the three disciples.

[30:35] We really want to tell people. He said not to tell people until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. So, what does this rising of the dead actually mean? What is Jesus getting on about here?

[30:47] The discussion that ensues between the three men. And here, it's important for us to understand what their preconceived idea of resurrection was.

[30:59] That's the question that they asked Jesus or that they were asking one another. And the preconceived notion for these men was not that they were trying to figure out resurrection in general.

[31:12] They believed in a future resurrection of all people. The Jews, for the most part, believed that. From Daniel chapter 12. They also had seen Jesus raise other people from the dead.

[31:26] So, it's not that they just didn't really understand resurrection. It's that they had no capacity in their mind for a suffering Messiah that would need resurrection. That thought just doesn't enter into their mind.

[31:39] So, even though Jesus had plainly said it, they're not grasping it. Perhaps they're just not receiving it. And so, they're discussing with one another, well, what does he mean by this resurrection and when can we tell people?

[31:51] And it seems that they've settled in on this idea that what Jesus was referring to was this general resurrection of all people to judgment. And this is what leads to their next question.

[32:04] Verse 11. And they asked him, why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? And he said to them, Elijah does come first to restore all things.

[32:16] And how is it written to the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come and they did to him whatever they pleased as it is written of him.

[32:31] This is a weird question now, isn't it? Because what they're discussing with one another is resurrection. Why didn't they ask Jesus about resurrection? Because they thought they figured that part out. They were certain Jesus, Jesus can't be talking about himself.

[32:48] This has to be something else. They're settling in on this general resurrection of all people to the judgment at the end of the age. And so their question then is not so much about resurrection, it's about this Elijah figure.

[33:05] The question has to do with the fulfillment of a prophecy from the prophet Malachi. Now God had spoken through Malachi to say that a forerunner would precede the Messiah and prepare the way for his arrival.

[33:22] And you can write these references down. We would find it in Malachi 3 and verse 1 and then again in Malachi 4 and verse 5. And let me just read them to you. Malachi 3, here's what it says, Behold, I send my messenger, he will prepare the way before me.

[33:39] And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

[33:51] So that's chapter 3 and verse 1. A messenger will precede the Messiah. And then in chapter 4 and verse 5, Malachi summarizes his prophecy and he says that this messenger will be Elijah.

[34:05] Let me read it to you. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction.

[34:23] So the question that the disciples have is related to this prophecy for Malachi. The Jews believed that before the Messiah would come and set up the kingdom, that Elijah himself, the Old Testament prophet himself, would come back, would return, and that he would do this preparatory work.

[34:44] The language is to restore all things. It's really a reference to preparing the way. That idea of the herald that would go before a king and prepare the way is really what the intention of that phrasing is.

[34:57] They thought Elijah literally was going to come back. The disciples would have assumed this as well. But they couldn't figure out, though they believed in Jesus that he was indeed the Messiah, they couldn't figure out this whole bit about Elijah.

[35:13] And so that's what they ask. They're thinking about the kingdom, they're thinking the kingdom is coming now. They're still confused about that. And they say, Jesus, if you're the Messiah and we believe that you are, what's this whole bit about Elijah?

[35:26] Where's Elijah? We thought Elijah was supposed to come. And we just saw him on the mountain and we've never seen him before. So what's the whole deal with Elijah?

[35:39] Now, Jesus answers them in a way that's a little bit unique. But before we can really understand verse 12 in this question that Jesus asked, let's start with verse 13.

[35:52] Jesus tells them, essentially, John the Baptist is the Elijah that Malachi was referring to. And so at this point in the conversation, Matthew wrote in chapter 17 and verse 13 that the disciples got it.

[36:11] It clicked with them, okay, Jesus is referring to John the Baptist. That must be the explanation. And so though the Jews were looking for this literal return of Elijah, Jesus said that this prophecy was fulfilled in John who had come in the spirit and power of Elijah.

[36:28] It was a matter of interpretation. They had interpreted it in a literal way and it didn't quite mean it in a literal way when God gave the prophecy. Now, the New Testament is clear about this. Let me give you a couple of references.

[36:39] When the angel appeared to Zechariah to tell him that his wife Elizabeth would bear a child and to name him John, here's what the angel said.

[36:51] Luke chapter 1, He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

[37:10] We just heard that language in Malachi. The angel is telling Zechariah your son is going to be that one. He's the Elijah. Okay? After John is born, his father Zechariah has this doxology, this moment of praise.

[37:27] In Luke chapter 1 the Bible says that he was filled with the Holy Spirit and here's what he said. And you child, this is in reference to John, will be called the prophet of the Most High. You will go before the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God.

[37:47] And then Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 11. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John and if you are willing to accept it, Jesus said, he is Elijah who is to come.

[38:00] And then he says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. In other words, if you will see who John really is, you'll see who I really am. That's the whole point of this. That's what Jesus is getting at in this question. And then we have to ask, if it was so plain that John the Baptist was this Elijah figure, why didn't the disciples understand it?

[38:23] It's clear, isn't it? They didn't want a Messiah who would suffer and they had no capacity in their mind for a messenger, a forerunner that would suffer.

[38:36] Just like they had no capacity in their mind for followers of the Messiah to suffer. Suffering was not a part of the equation for them. The whole equation for them with the kingdom was blessing and the nation being established and all of the enemies of Israel being demolished and the Messiah reigning and they reigning with them.

[38:57] There's no suffering in their mind. And so now that John has been arrested and executed, they've completely dismissed any possibility that he could have been the Elijah figure of Malachi.

[39:10] And here is Jesus saying, no, Elijah has come. Elijah has come. It was John. They did to him. They did to him whatever they wanted as it is written of him.

[39:21] Okay, now we can come back to verse 12 because we understand John is the person here. Now we come back to verse 12 and we're about to finish it up. I hope I'm not losing you here. Almost done. And he said to them, Elijah does come first to restore all things.

[39:37] And then he asked a question. And how is it written of the son of man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? Now, this question seems strange.

[39:50] They've asked him about Elijah. Why is Jesus now asking them about what the scripture says about the suffering Messiah? Messiah? And Jesus is teaching them again that the scripture says the Messiah must suffer.

[40:06] Therefore, his followers must also be prepared to suffer for his sake. That's the point. Matthew orders these statements in reverse.

[40:21] and it's to accomplish a different, provide a different perspective of Jesus' statement. He reverses them in order to say how the Messiah would suffer.

[40:33] And in Matthew's account, he's essentially saying the way that they treated John is also the way they will treat me. That's essentially the sequence that Matthew gives.

[40:44] But Mark gives a different sequence. Mark's presenting a different perspective. He's not trying to tell us how the Messiah would die. He's trying to emphasize why John had to die.

[41:00] And so his sequence goes like this. They did that to John because they will do that to me. Do you see the difference?

[41:11] why is Jesus asking this question? He's bringing their minds back to the scripture. The Messiah will suffer. Therefore, why would you expect that his messenger wouldn't suffer?

[41:27] And why wouldn't you expect that you won't suffer? And here he covers this third part of his teaching in chapter 8.

[41:41] We've seen his identity. We've seen his suffering. And now we're again reminded of the cost of being his disciple. Just because John was executed didn't mean that he wasn't the Elijah figure.

[41:56] It actually shows that he was the Messiah figure. Because just as they treated Jesus is how we might expect to be treated as his followers.

[42:06] And it's not hard to see that is it. It's only getting harder. But every one of these men that were covering in the life of Jesus every one of them suffered willingly joyfully why?

[42:27] Because they found in Jesus the pearl. They found in Jesus the treasure. And so Jesus is just teaching the lesson again.

[42:41] Now as we close I want us to step back for just a second and consider this narrative as a whole. What is it we're supposed to do about this passage? We like to ask that question right?

[42:51] When we come to the text what do we do about this? This is what it says. This is what it means. What do we do now? The purpose of the transfiguration is to proclaim who Jesus is, what he came to do, and what it means to be his disciple.

[43:07] So the application is clear. We are to believe who he is, accept what he did, and follow him, and follow him.